A 12-year drought came to a crashing end for the Taft varsity softball program early Thursday evening when the No.2 seeded Lady Wildcats defeated the No.1 seeded Madera Madera Ranchos Hawks 9-3 in the championship game of the CIF-CS Division IV playoffs.

With the win, Taft gets their first softball title since 2001.

Taft mounted a mini rally in the second inning but neither side made a move until the fourth inning when Arizona Pilgrim snapped the scoreless tie with a two run home run over the left field fence.

The hit, jump started the Lady Wildcat offense in the fifth inning when they scored four runs while sending 10 batters to the plate. Mikaela Davis had one of the highlights in the inning when the Liberty Madera outfielder trapped the ball for a run scoring single.

Liberty Madera attempted to get back into the game in their half of the fifth inning thanks to a three run home run to cut the lead in half. However, the Lady Wildcats struck one final time with three runs in the sixth while sending eight batters to the plate.